readx;?“ Mr. Guo, don't you deny it, when General Erjin and they met with you, they repeatedly asked you about the situation of the Old Summer Palace, and directly asked you if it was possible for the Qing Emperor to escape to the Old Summer Palace? ”

"Although you refused to answer at that time, the foreigners asked you if the Old Summer Palace was the emperor's palace, did you say yes? also said that sometimes the emperor will live in the Old Summer Palace? ”

"Also, the foreigner took out a map of the Gyeonggi area again, and asked you to point out where the Old Summer Palace is, and you refused again, and the foreigner is still very unhappy because of this, right?"

"In addition, in front of you, foreigners have mentioned the Old Summer Palace three times, and the third time they simply asked you if there are countless treasures hidden in the Old Summer Palace, and you said you don't know, is there any?!"

Listening to the middle-aged man's sharp question, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were stunned together, dumbfounded together, and couldn't figure out why the middle-aged man would say such a thing when he broke his head? Ask questions like this? - This is a whistleblower betrayal, it is simply helping Guo Songtao correct his name!

In the end, it was the shooting of the devil six who shouted angrily, pulling Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng back from the dream - the devil six roared: "Guo Songtao, such an important situation, why didn't you report it to the prince and the prince when you returned to Beijing?" Do you know that if the prince knew in advance that the foreigners had been eyeing the Old Summer Palace and prepared in advance, the opportunity for the foreigners to snatch away the foreign devils in the Old Summer Palace? ! ”

glanced at the middle-aged man again, and saw that he was smiling quite hideously and obscenely, as if he was really a despicable villain who had succeeded in informing, Guo Songtao bowed his hand to the devil and said: "The sixth master forgives the sin, the lower official was too nervous at the time and forgot." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Forgot?!"

Over there, the prince and the alcohol prince braided the crown together and shouted: "Dog slave, you wait for the court to punish the crime!" With such an important military situation, you dare not report it to us, so that the imperial court missed the last opportunity to transfer the foreign devils away in advance, and you can not escape from the crime of dereliction of duty! This king not only wants to participate in your dereliction of duty, but also Wu Chaoyue's improper use of people, negligence and dereliction of duty, please ask the emperor to punish him together! ”

"The lower official should be damned, the lower official was negligent for a while, and he really forgot to report to the two princes that the foreigners had been eyeing the situation of the Old Summer Palace, and the lower official was willing to accept the guilt." Guo Songtao pleaded guilty again and again, but snorted coldly in his heart and said what about dereliction of duty? Anyway, Lao Tzu's editor of the Hanlin Academy is only in name, and a big son can't get it, so it doesn't matter if it's inappropriate.

After shouting and hustle like a clown, the prince and the alcohol prince asked Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng to get out, and Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng, who had completed the task, also immediately said goodbye and left, and when leaving, Guo Songtao quietly glanced back at the middle-aged man, but saw that he had put his ear to the ear of Devil Six, and was accepting Devil Six's ear. Guo Songtao was curious in his heart, and said secretly: "Who is this person?" Why didn't you betray me? ”

Curious, and received the kindness of the middle-aged man, in the evening, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng of course brought a gift to the coalition headquarters to visit the middle-aged man, thanked him in person and inquired about the reason by the way. As a result, when they inquired at the Allied Forces Headquarters, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng learned that the middle-aged man's name was Gong Cheng, who was a staff member hired by the British Minister and British Consul in Shanghai, and was even respected by Pruus.

After waiting for a lot of time in front of the headquarters, the middle-aged man Gong Cheng came out to meet Guo Huang and the others, and after a few words of greeting each other, Gong Cheng gave Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng a look, Guo Huang and Huang understood, and hurriedly followed him inside, and sat down at his residence, and then Guo Songtao bowed his hand to Gong Cheng and said: "Mr. Gong, thank you for your kindness, today you can be regarded as saving your next life, if you really tell the sixth master about the situation that day, not only will it be difficult to protect the head of the people below, but the whole family and Wu Futai may be implicated." Mr. kindness, in the next heart, if there is a chance in the future, in the next must be a grass ring, in return Mr. kindness in case. ”

"You're welcome, speaking of which, I'm still a little sorry for you." Gong Cheng took out a jade wrench from his arms, and said with a smile: "The sixth master took the jade wrench of the hundred horses in front of Lu Zigang to buy me, my eyes were hot for a while, and I gave you a crime of dereliction of duty, I can't stand you, and I can't help Zhao Huifu." ”

"Mr. Gong, do you know Master Zhao Liewen Zhao?"

Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng asked in surprise together, and vaguely guessed the reason why Gong Cheng was inclined to himself, sure enough, although Gong Cheng did not answer, he smiled and took out a letter from his luggage and handed it to Guo and Huang, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng hurriedly took it and watched it, and saw that the letter was written by Zhao Liewen, Wu Chaoyue's number one accomplice in the civil service, and the recipient was Gong Cheng. The content is that Zhao Liewen strongly invited Gong Cheng to visit Hubei, and said that he wanted to recommend Gong Cheng to Wu Chaoyue, and he still respected Gong Cheng very much between words, and he respected Gong Cheng as a brother in every word, and respected Gong Cheng's talent and knowledge.

"Yunxian, I am lonely and unheard, and when I first met you, I didn't know that you were Huifu's colleague, so I was a little offensive to you."

Gong Cheng opened his mouth and took the initiative to apologize to Guo Songtao with a smile, Guo Songtao hurriedly said that he didn't care, and asked curiously: "Mr. Gong, since you have such a deep friendship with Zhao Huifu and are proficient in foreign languages, you are the talent that Hubei urgently needs, then why don't you accept Huifu's invitation and go to Hubei to give it a try?" ”

"I wanted to go." Gong Cheng smiled and said: "People have also arrived in Shanghai to prepare to take a boat to Hubei, that knew that in Shanghai met a famous prostitute with a good appetite, so I lived on her flower boat and did not want to move, I felt that instead of going to Hubei like Zhao Huifu every day with the official copywriter as a companion, it is better to be a prostitute to release the boat and poetry and wine freely, so I changed my mind and stayed in Shanghai to live happily, until all the money was spent, I entered the consulate of the foreigner as a translator. ”

Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were dumbfounded together, they never thought that Gong Cheng would be such a virtuous person, in order to drink, he could take the initiative to give up Zhao Liewen's recommendation to him - with Zhao Liewen's status in Hubei, as long as Gong Cheng arrived in Hubei, he would basically immediately be under a few people and above ten thousand.

Gong Cheng ignored the strange eyes of Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng looking at him, and just said directly: "The sixth master bought me today, and he wanted to find evidence of your collusion with foreigners, but in fact, the real target is Wu Chaoyue Wu Futai behind you, don't forget to report this matter to Wu Futai and tell Wu Futai to be careful." ”

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao hurriedly agreed, and thanked Gong Cheng again, and Gong Cheng said casually: "Another point, today the three brothers of the foreigner and the Yizi generation have collapsed again, and several terms cannot be negotiated. If Wu Futai really wants to grasp the diplomatic power of the imperial court, you still have to work hard to do the work of foreigners, so that there is hope. ”

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao thanked each other again, exchanged some friendship with Gong Cheng, agreed on future contact methods, and then said goodbye and left. As a result, when sending Guo and Huang out, Gong Cheng reminded again, "I almost forgot, the foreigners are very dissatisfied with the stupidity and stubbornness of the sixth master and his three brothers, and are discussing what drastic means to use to further pressure the imperial court. ”

Guo Songtao nodded, but Huang Sheng was shocked over there, and hurriedly asked, "Will the foreigners attack the Old Summer Palace?" ”

"Attack the Old Summer Palace? What do you mean? ”

Gong Cheng asked in confusion, Huang Sheng also told Gong Cheng the secret information that Wu Chaoyue was talking about, but Gong Cheng frowned when he heard it, and said: "Wu Futai's information, why don't I know about it when I am by the foreigner's side?" In this way, I take this matter to heart, if the foreigners really have the idea of the Old Summer Palace, I will contact you immediately. ”

In the next few days, when the security in the capital was still quite chaotic, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng took the risk to run back and forth, shuttling between the British and French military stations to lobby, and with great effort, they finally persuaded the British and French ministers to preliminarily agree to stay in Hubei, and also persuaded the American minister Hua Ruohan, who took advantage of the fire to rob, to agree to stay in Hubei.

After returning in vain in front of Ignatiev again, when leaving the new headquarters of the Anglo-French Allied Army in Zongrenfu, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng also saw a picture that made them cry and laugh, a large group of scholars actually petitioned in front of the headquarters of the Anglo-French Allied Army, asking the Anglo-French Allied Army to hold a imperial examination, open Enke, let them take the examination to become officials, and give foreigners officials.

In this regard, Huang Sheng, who was born as an international student, just felt funny, but Guo Songtao, who was once obsessed with the imperial examination, sighed after smiling bitterly, "This is the Qing Dynasty, this is the scholar of the Qing Dynasty, the so-called loyal and filial son of the Qing Dynasty." Such an emperor, such a court, what else can be hoped for? What else can be hoped for ......? ”

Suddenly patted a hand on the shoulder interrupted Guo Songtao's rebellious sigh, Guo Songtao turned around in shock, but saw that Gong Cheng was standing behind him, Guo Songtao breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly saluted Gong Cheng, but Gong Cheng looked nervous to the side, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng understood, and hurriedly followed Gong Cheng to the Zhongfu Hutong opposite the coalition headquarters, and found a place where no one was talking.

"Wu Futai's intelligence is very accurate." Gong Cheng said with a slap on his face: "The foreigners did have the idea of the Old Summer Palace, and wanted to rob the Old Summer Palace first and then burn it to retaliate against the Qing Dynasty and exert pressure. ”

Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were also anxious when they heard this, and hurriedly asked Gong Cheng about the situation, and Gong Cheng replied: "After the foreigners broke through the Old Summer Palace, they took the initiative to retreat because they were afraid that the imperial court would ask them to compensate for their losses at the negotiation table. (Wang Xiangqi's "Words of the Old Summer Palace" contains.) ）

"But because the Old Summer Palace guard camp was driven away by foreigners, the Old Summer Palace was unguarded these days, and the flag people of Haidian ran to the Old Summer Palace in droves to steal and rob, among them, there was a flag man named Li Chongnian who was caught by foreigners, and the foreigners searched out a large number of jewels from him, and asked him where he came from, he was honest, and said that there were many such jewels in the Old Summer Palace, and encouraged foreigners to go to the Old Summer Palace to make a fortune."

"As a result, the foreign soldiers were moved, and they all asked for the temporary disbandment of military discipline, and Erjin and Gro didn't want to be too harsh on the soldiers, so they decided to rob the Old Summer Palace first and then burn it, not only to make a fortune, but also to exert pressure on the imperial court, and by the way, to take revenge on the imperial court for beating two foreign soldiers to death in the Old Summer Palace."

"Is that decided?" Huang Sheng hurriedly asked.

"It's basically settled." Gong Cheng replied with a gloomy face: "The foreigners are going to start tomorrow, first take turns to grab the three mountains and five gardens in Xishan, and then set fire to the gardens, and they are also going to officially inform the prince of this matter in tomorrow's negotiations." ”

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao complained together, and hurriedly asked Gong Cheng: "Yigong, is there any way to stop the foreigners?" ”

"Stopping foreigners from robbing, I'm afraid it will never be possible." Gong Cheng shook his head and said: "Although the foreigners' army is strictly disciplined and soldiers have always been forbidden to kill ordinary people, the voices in the army asking for the opportunity to get rich have been constant, and the military order that will allow robbery has been issued again, even Erjin and Ge Luo are afraid that they will not be able to take back the order." ”

"Then can you stop the foreigners from burning the Old Summer Palace?" Huang Sheng retreated and said: "We can't keep the gold, silver and jewelry in the Old Summer Palace, but those landscape buildings are priceless treasures, and it's a pity to burn them." ”

"I'm afraid it's hard." Gong Cheng shook his head and said: "The foreigners decided to burn the Old Summer Palace, one is to take revenge, and the other is to exert pressure to force the three fools of the prince to make concessions at the negotiation table. Unless....... ”

"Unless what?" Huang Sheng hurriedly asked.

"Unless we can get the three fools of the prince to quickly give in and agree to the conditions proposed by the foreigners." Gong Cheng said helplessly: "Although it is for them to pay compensation to cut the land, but the matter has come to this point, since the compensation and land cutting is inevitable, why do you need to take a Yuanmingyuan?" Moreover, the foreigners are not only preparing to burn the Old Summer Palace, but also preparing to burn the three mountains and five gardens together, and the value of these gardens together may be more than the indemnity promised by the imperial court to the foreigners. ”

"Then we'll go to the prince and them now."

Huang Sheng was about to leave, but Guo Songtao next to him grabbed him and said in a low voice: "Pingfu, you can't be impulsive, not to mention that we go to persuade the prince to give in to the foreigners, it is destined to leave a reputation for eternity, and give the prince the opportunity to push the black pot to us and even Wu Futai." Even if we are willing to carry this black cauldron, we will grit our teeth and not implicate Wu Futai, and the three fools of the prince of Xuan, the prince of alcohol and the sixth master may not agree to make concessions to the foreigners in order to keep the Old Summer Palace. ”

"Why?" Huang Sheng hurriedly asked.

"Because the Old Summer Palace belongs to the emperor alone." Guo Songtao replied in a low voice: "Whether it is the prince of the Emperor, the prince of alcohol and the sixth master, they are not qualified to live in the Old Summer Palace, they are not qualified to visit the landscape of the Old Summer Palace at will, and they are not qualified to enjoy the jewels and beauties inside, and the delicacies of the mountains and seas." ”

"So for them, if the foreigners burn the Old Summer Palace, it will only be their fourth brother who will suffer, and it has little to do with them. But if they make concessions to foreigners in order to keep the Old Summer Palace that does not belong to them, it will be an infamy for the ages and a scolding of the people, and the emperor may even use them as scapegoats and clean them up to explain to the government and the opposition. ”

"It's not that serious, is it?" Huang Sheng asked in surprise.

"Forgot the senior who signed the Treaty of Nanjing? In order to give an explanation to the world, the emperor gave him to commit suicide. Guo Songtao reminded, and said with a wry smile: "Actually, I have long suspected that the two idiots of Prince Xuan and Prince Alcohol have not dared to sign a contract until now, probably because they are afraid of repeating the mistakes of Qiying." ”

Huang Sheng was silent, but Gong Cheng, who was also from Baguwen over there, nodded, and said: "Yunxian Gaojian, I am also worried that the fools of the prince will rather the Old Summer Palace be burned than dare to make concessions, maybe they still wish that the foreigners would quickly burn the Old Summer Palace, so that the emperor hiding in Rehe can personally issue an order to decide to make concessions, so that they don't have to take any responsibility." ”

Huang Sheng was even more speechless, and Guo Songtao said again: "Therefore, if we want to make the fools of the prince quickly give in and keep the Old Summer Palace, unless we can make them feel that if they don't sign the contract quickly, they will also suffer losses, or unbearable losses, they will be able to bear this black cauldron." ”

"It's easier said than done." Gong Cheng sighed: "They are also negotiators, according to the rules of foreigners, their lives and property must be protected, and there is no way to threaten their families and property to force them to sign, otherwise, I can encourage foreigners to do this." ”

Sitting in the city of sorrow, racking his brains, Huang Sheng, who grew up reading foreign books, suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly whispered: "Brother Yigong, can you persuade foreigners to threaten the fools of the prince in another way without being known by outsiders?" If the foreigners used this method, the three fools who were in charge of the prince would not think about it, and immediately agreed to sign concessions. ”

"I'm the only one in the coalition headquarters, so it's okay not to let outsiders know." Gong Cheng asked, "What's the way?" ”

"Let the foreigners threaten to go to Zunhua archaeology!"

Huang Sheng's sneering answer made Gong Cheng and Guo Songtao dumbfounded, and they exclaimed in a low voice: "Let the foreigners threaten to dig their ancestral graves?!" ”

Huang Sheng nodded, and said viciously: "When I was a child, there was such an incident in my hometown of Xiangshan, there was a person named Shen Zhiliang, who suddenly left the Portuguese consul Yama at that time to be slaughtered, and the government caught him and asked him why, he said that it was because the Portuguese built a road to dig his ancestral grave, and he slaughtered Yamaliu in order to avenge the ancestral grave. ”

"Think about it, a flat-headed common man can't tolerate the ancestral grave being dug up, how can the two fools who are princes such as the prince and the prince be able to endure such a thing? And if the court and the emperor knew that it was because they were afraid of responsibility that they forced the foreigners to dig their ancestral graves, the Aixin Jueluo royal family would definitely be able to skin them! ”

"So I dare to conclude that as long as the foreigners threaten to dig up their ancestral graves, the two idiots of the prince and the prince of alcohol will definitely not want to think about it, and would rather carry the black pot than keep their ancestral graves!"

Gong Cheng and Guo Songtao opened their mouths, and after glancing at each other, they nodded vigorously together! (To be continued.) )